Union seniors James Buchanan and Elaine Shan have been selected as members of this year’s Oklahoma Academic All-State class by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Shan also became Union’s third student to score a perfect 36 on her ACT.
Buchanan is the son of Darryl and Yvonne Buchanan, Tulsa; and Shan is the daughter of Zongyao and Yingying Shan, Broken Arrow.
“These fine UHS students will be recognized at the annual banquet in May, we’ll put their names on our marquee, and they will be further recognized at our school’s annual awards assembly,” says college and career counselor Brad Burnham.David L. Boren, chairman and founder of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, describes the selection of the scholars as “Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic competition.” To be nominated for Academic All-State, students must meet one of the following criteria: an American College Test (ACT) composite score of at least 30; a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) combined critical reading and math score of at least 1350; or be selected as a semi-finalist for a National Merit, National Achievement or National Hispanic Scholarship.
Academic All-Staters are nominated by their principals or superintendents and are selected on the basis of academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as an essay submitted by each nominee.
Union’s Board of Education just learned that Shan became the third Union student this school year to score a perfect 36 on her ACT, along with Buchanan and Lexie Kinion, whose perfect scores were announced earlier. In 2007, the national average on the ACT was 21, and about one in 4,000 students made 36. It is uncommon for a high school to have a student score a perfect score, let alone to have three such students in a single year, administrators said.
